Case Study1 - PC speed
Thursday, 05 August 2010 11:24
PC Performance Improvement does save money:
Most clients in the small business sector rarely expect to replace their PC’s after 3 years. Instead they soldier on like a new car owner trying to keep their “investments” running until they reach their last dieing breath. In fact, that’s exactly what happens.....
In this example, our new client had been complaining about “slow” responses on their PC’s. Additionally, there were functions in their new version of Sage that they could not use because their version of office was too old. Upon further review, it was discovered that the office software had been illegally installed by the previous IT engineer.
After an official audit the conclusion was clear. In order to get Microsoft’s help in resolving MS Office issues, they first had to be legal! This is the important bit that is always forgotten... Microsoft will not help a plagerist! Office 2010 was now the preferred option because they had left the upgrade so long. Now, there was not a single PC in the business that was powerful enough to run the application. So, new PC’s and software had to be purchased to resolve the problems. In fact, a massive univited system change with new software they did not recognise.
Q: So what’s the difference in cost if I just upgrade at the end of the PC’s life then?
A: In hardware and software cost, nothing! Except, by being forced in this manner, the client had probably suffered 12 months slow performances, unnecessary downtime and disruption in the business. Most employees were unhappy employees, because they knew their PC’s at home were better than the work units and the frustration built up. If staff members were frustrated, they were not likely to concentrate on earning the business money.
The business own now understands the cost of downtime. The cost of replacement kit, on average is 60% cheaper than downtime, so its worth considering and there are always deals on the cost of hardware.
FACT: You cannot force a PC to run into its 5th year. To ensure that your business is running smoothly and keeping up to date with the market trends, PC’s should be upgraded every 3 years.
Look at all the blue chip companies: BP, ICI, Intel, Microsoft, Banks, HP, etc. Do they keep their PC’s up to date? Certainly, they do. They also pass all their old stock into the refurbished market to regain revenue on old kit.
Imagine this. You could save 50% on your 3 year upgrade by selling off your 3 year old kit simply because it is still viable! If you keep your kit for 5 years, you couldn’t give it away for free. In fact, under the WEEE law, you pay to get it removed....
Why not call us for a free consultation on 01268 759518
Case Study4 - Cost Savings
Thursday, 10 June 2010 20:45
Annual Budget Reduction:
We acquired a a new client in 2009 and at the time, wanted to assess their IT budget as the year went on. The client took pride in their business and their IT infrastructure, I guess you could say they understood the importance of their systems. This client is an accountant, and a very good one at that.
We were asked to come in and discuss the benefits of having a service contract. So taking their current infrastructure into consideration, I quoted a price of £1,250.00 + vat per annum.
He then brought up the annual budget sheet from his accounts system for the last twelve months. He had spent £4,750.00 using an adhoc, reactive service! This means the adhoc support system cost him and additional £3,500.00 more !!
Needless to say, we were more than happy to save our client a large sum of money in return for a long term relationship and a happy client.
Why not call us for a free consultation on 01268 759518
Case Study2 - No SPAM
Wednesday, 09 June 2010 15:51
SPAM Resolution:
A client called us last year and began to complain about the level of SPAM and Viagra emails he was receiving in his inbox. We naturally took a look. The daily count was 30 SPAM emails a day. As soon as we mentioned a price of £250.00 per year to resolve the problem he decided to stick with it and delete them as he went.
We explained that it was not his server set up or his antivirus that was failing. This was just SPAM and he needed to prevent it arriving into his server in the first place. He decided not to pay for the protection. Six months later, we received a further request to look at the SPAM again. He was now receiving 300 emails a day, which in his eyes was ridiculous. The first hour of every day was spent deleting unwanted emails. This also meant retrieving the accidentally deleted emails. If he was unlucky enough to empty his deleted box when a good email had been deleted, it was gone for good.
I simply asked, “how many unsolicited emails do you get a day? and how much time does it take up?”. He didn’t know. I suggested for just one week, he monitor it. The figures were staggering. He lost 7 hours a week! We then suggested that he ask his staff to do the same. The figures became even more staggering. His staff were unproductive for 70 hours a week!
Even if all his staff were paid a minimum wage of £5.60 he stood to lose £392.00 every week or £20,384.00 per annum! So, just to recap, there was a dispute over a £250.00 pa SPAM service?
It was a no brainer. He signed up straight away and within 24 hours his SPAM was gone. In fact, he called me to report that his emails weren’t working, which they were! Shortly after the implementation, he advised that his overtime bill had dropped, which wasn’t surprising as his staff were able to do another 70 hours between them in normal hours.
If you suffer from any form of SPAM, we urge you to calculate your lost time. SPAM will never get better, that is a fact. You can stop it right now!
Why not call us for free advice on 01268 759518
